


Home Is Freedom

by prompt_fills



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Magical Realism, Pre-Slash, cressiweek2k17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 16:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12257784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prompt_fills/pseuds/prompt_fills
Summary: The Deaemon!AUSometimes it’s not the humans who make the first move.All humans have deamons but no one has ever seen Cristiano’s daemon. Leo isn’t so quick to jump to conclusions because his own deamon is currently missing.





	Home Is Freedom

Leo stretches and gets up from the sofa to join Luis in the kitchen.

It’s only half-time but Dortmund has dominated the game 3-0 and the commentators and experts in the studio are busy discussing the possible link between Real’s defeat, Cristiano’s bad form and the mystery of his daemon.

“Maybe he’s not human,” Luis says, slicing tomatoes into even wedges. Luis has a thing about tomatoes and especially about tomato juice.

“Maybe his daemon is just really small,” Leo counters. “You of all people could be a little more sympathetic.”

Luis shrugs, wipes his hands clean and pulls out two boxes from the fridge. One contains a mix of beans, peas and corn, the other holds insects.

Luis gets out a large cricket that’s completely tranced from the cold and barely moves. Luis softly taps against the glass of the vivarium that stretches from one side of his flat to the other.

A moment later, Leo sees as first the pincers appear from beneath a stone, then the whole scorpion. In slow, measured steps it makes its way to where Luis is placing the cricket. Luis makes a few encouraging noises, then drops the cricket into the branches and lets _Little Lu_ have its fun with hunting its prey.

The sight never gets less unnerving, no matter how often Leo sees it, no matter how casual Luis is about it.

“Get the herbs from the freezer,” Luis commands.

Leo hands him two cubes of herbs frozen in oil and Luis lets them melt in a pan.

This is the point where Leo would add some sliced garlic to get the flavours flowing but Luis is a strict purist and hates mixing that stuff into anything. “Can’t we–”

“My kitchen, my rules.”

Leo knows better than to argue.

The cricket has came to itself enough to start making loud chirruping noises.

Luis finishes cooking their dinner and they take it back to the living room just in time for the second half of Real Madrid’s suffering to begin.

They clear out their plates while Real tries to clear out all the balls being shot at their goal. Real manages to get a few chances but today is just not their day.

Leo watches as Cristiano claims the ball and swiftly dances through the defence. The shot goes straight to the goalkeeper’s waiting hands.

Leo still enjoys watching the move on repeat. “I’m starting to reconsider the non-human theory.”

Luis looks exhausted and he keeps spacing out on Leo.

“Don’t you think,” Luis says slowly, “that if he really wasn’t human, that he’d get some sort of a pet to make it look like he has one?”

That never occurred to Leo. He makes a thoughtful noise. “How would that even work? Other people would have to see them together all the time and it would be clear that there is no unusual bond between them.”

Luis gives Leo a sardonic look. “Not all daemons are cuddly.”

Suddenly realizing that the chirruping sounds have stopped, Leo’s eyes flicker to the ginormous vivarium. “Sorry.”

Luis waves him off. “Personally, I think he should have a shark.”

Leo snorts.

“Can’t leave the aquarium, can’t be generally seen in public, can’t keep you company all the time,” Luis lists on his fingers. “It’s as private as daemons should be.”

“You’ve thought about this,” Leo says.

“If you weren’t human, you’d keep an octopus in a fish tank,” Luis informs him.

Leo laughs and he puts on his best calculating look. “What makes you so sure I _am_ human?”

The sardonic look is back. “Oh please. Like I wouldn’t know.”

Leo chuckles, gets up from the sofa and helps Luis carry the empty plates and glasses back to the kitchen.

The match is over, Dortmund has won 4-1. Cristiano managed to turn one penalty into a goal but Leo has a feeling even that won’t stop all the questions about his daemon.

Leo pats Luis’ back. “You should get some sleep. See you tomorrow at the airport.”

“Sure,” Luis says, hiding his yawn. “See yourself out?”

“Okay.”

Leo is grabbing his jacket, about to leave Luis’ flat, when he happens to glance back. Luis taps against the glass of _Little Lu_ ’s enclosure, a different rhythm than before, and seconds later, the scorpion scuttles to Luis’ waiting hand. Luis carefully picks it up, whispering something that Leo can’t hear. Leo shudders and quickly exits the flat.

Before he hails a cab, his eyes automatically flicker to the sky, searching in vain for a familiar shape of his companion.

**…**

Cristiano hasn’t felt this lonely ever since his deamon took off for two weeks back when he first came to Spain.

Those two weeks Cristiano could understand because when his deamon came back her form was permanently settled, her fur was white as snow and her eyes dark and dangerous.

This has been longer than two weeks and it hurts, it physically hurts to be separated for so long. Cristiano has no idea what brought up the absence or what could have gone wrong. He tries to recall his last conversation with his companion but there wasn’t anything indicating the fox was mad at him. There was the usual bickering about whether or not he was pushing himself too hard or hard enough, about what counted as rising too early, and there were also some snide remarks about the lack of his love life but that was all an old tune.

Cristiano leaves the door to his balcony opened up a crack. If his fox comes back during the night, she can push through it.

It’s already autumn and the night air that wafts into the room is cold. Cristiano climbs into his bed and pulls up the covers up to his chin. No matter what he does, he can’t get comfortable, missing the warmth of the fox. She loves to curl up on Cristiano’s chest, push her nuzzle to the side of his neck and snore. Whenever she does that, Cristiano is rooted to the spot because he doesn’t have the heart to wake he up by moving.

Cristiano eventually falls asleep but he’s restless and wakes up feeling even more tired than he was before. He wonders how long can a deamon go without their human because he feels in every bone of his body that humans don’t last long without their deamon by their side.

**…**

The fox knows exactly what she has to do for her human. Cristiano may not realize it yet himself but she already knows. There aren’t any secrets he can keep from her. Not a single hidden thought, not a single emotion he feels and she doesn’t know about. She knows what she has to do so that her human feels whole again. She can do it for him, but she doesn’t know where to begin.

She knows how to stay hidden and observe rather than to be observed, so she slips into the night and lets her nose lead the way.

She can feel it in the chilled air, she can trace the sweet, calming smell that lures her. It’s not a new scent but it comes and goes and it took her some time to realize it’s because the source of the smell is constantly on the move, just as much as she and Cristiano are. Sometimes it is stronger, sometimes less so. Perhaps her human hasn’t picked up on it yet with his human senses, but she is not as oblivious.

Tonight, the smell is distant but the fox knows from which way it comes. She follows it and it grows stronger.

The night turns into a day, the day into a night and she knows she’s close. She can almost touch it and it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s near her, engulfing her in a soft, comforting warmth and it’s _almost_ enough for her not to miss Cristiano so bitterly.

She hurries up her pace. She can smell the ocean and the cliffs and it must be somewhere near – she had been puzzled for a moment because she thought it came from two places when she got close enough but now there is no mistaking it, the source of the sweet, precious smell must be somewhere above her and she tilts her head this way and that, ears twitching, listening to the howling wind and the crash of the waves.

Suddenly, the fox catches a sight of it and she gives it a chase. She didn’t come this far only for it to slip through her paws. Cristiano needs this. They both need this.

She leaps – and she falls.

**…**

He can feel the distress, he can feel the anger and the pain. It calls to him so strongly he cannot ignore it.

He doesn’t want to part with his human but the human has important things to do and the daemon can manage to be alone for a little while, especially when there is something so curious and powerful that he can feel the pull even if he cannot see anything.

He takes to the sky and searches for it. He circles back to the cliffs. It’s his favourite spot but that’s not the reason the place is calling to him. Now there is something else as well.

He felt it last night, something soft and calming, something he only ever feels around his human. For a few confused moments he thought his human had followed him because the feeling of _home_ grew so strong he could almost swear it brushed his feathers but then the feeling dimmed, as suddenly as it appeared.

He finds the spot where the feeling disappeared.

Then he sees it. A silvery white fox, barking and yelping, twisting in pain. She managed to get herself trapped between the high tide and the rocks. One of her paws is slashed open.

He lets the wind take him closer.

It’s not a pretty sight.

The fox glances up at him, eyes heavy, movements sluggish. She yelps again but he is positive she presents no danger to him. If anything, the calming sense is stronger here. The fox whines, puzzled.

He perches on the jagged cliffs close to her. She’s starving and bleeding from the gashes. The waves of the sea matted her fur and she’s shivering. She is growing weak.

He hops down, closer still, encouraged that she’s not trying to attack. She watches him warily but she stopped trying to free herself. Good. It would only make things worse.

He inches to her, spreads his wings and burrows his beak into her fur. He does this sometimes for his human when the human gets hurt. It always helps.

**…**

Leo’s daemon likes to fly out at night but he’s always back within a few hours. Now it’s been four days and Leo can’t stop worrying.

His eyes are glued to the sky more than to the pitch, his fingers are drumming restless rhythm against his thigh. He feels the absence in every fibre of his being.

The blackbird is a free spirit and he likes to wander. Leo has learnt to give him enough freedom and he knows he shouldn’t be worried but there is a nagging feeling telling him something is wrong and he can’t shake it.

His suspicions are confirmed when the blackbird actually does return. His feathers are muddy and he looks as tired as Leo feels. The moment Leo recognizes his shape, he automatically stretches out his hand.

His daemon drops from the sky and swoops to perch on Leo’s arm. He lazily nuzzles his beak against the side of Leo’s head.

“Are you okay?”

_I’m fine. But I found a fox who is not. We could help her._

“A fox?”

 _A fellow daemon,_ he says, then tilts his head, beady eyes focusing on Leo. _She’s very pretty._

“Lead the way,” Leo says. His daemon hardly ever asks anything from him and Leo is curious by nature.

It takes a while to get to the cliffs and walking on them is a nightmare. The light is dim and everything is slippery. He knows the coach will skin him alive if he gets hurt.

His deamon guides his every step until they reach a sudden drop in the cliffs and he can see a body of a white fox down below him.

It takes long minutes to get to the fox. Leo cautiously approaches it. It’s wounded and good knows how it might react to another human being so close.

“Hey there, little one,” he murmurs, keeping his voice calm. The fox watches him warily. He slowly stretches out his hand so that the animal can see the movement.

 _Are you stupid?_ the fox asks flatly and Leo startles, snatching his hand back. He shouldn’t be able to hear other people’s deamons.

 _Who do you think you are?_ the fox goes on.

 _He’s here to help you,_ Leo’s daemon says. _I can’t heal you anymore and I can’t move you._

The fox growls. _Don’t touch me,_ it warns Leo.

Leo squats down, balancing on the rocks. He doesn’t touch the fox. “Can you move?”

 _She can’t,_ Leo’s daemon answers when the silence gets too long.

Leo sighs and glances at the fox that is apparently female. “Where is your human?”

 _Away,_ the fox says curtly.

“We can try to get your human to help you if you tell us where he is.”

 _He’s too far,_ the fox replies.

 _So far that she can barely feel him,_ Leo’s daemon explains, _she’s been hurting even before she got trapped here. Help her._

That settles it.

Leo steels himself and reaches down, intending to carefully pry the fox’s injured leg from between the rocks. The fox whines but doesn’t try to bite.

Leo’s fingers brush against the fur.

He gasps. The spark is instantaneous. The moment he touches the white fox, he’s engulfed in the feeling of warmth. It’s cozy and peaceful and he loses himself for a moment, soothed by the sense of belonging. The rest of the world dissolves into nothing, it’s just him and the warm caress of the soul.

There is a gentle nip on his arm and Leo blinks, crashing down from his high.

The fox gives him a speculative look. _You may help me._

Leo looks down to where he is still holding her paw and he gently frees it. The fox snuffles. She looks better than when they first got there.

 _You touched her,_ Leo’s daemon says in an explanation. Leo glances up at the blackbird and he opens his mouth to ask him what he means but then it dawns on him. He touched someone’s soul. He touched someone’s soul and he was accepted.

Leo’s hand freezes where it’s absent-mindedly stroking the fox’s fur in a soothing manner. He looks the fox in the eyes, trying to gauge her reactions.

The fox returns Leo’s gaze evenly, with a tilt to her head as if Leo is some giant puzzle.

 _There is a stench of creatures clinging to you,_ she informs him.

“Creatures? I don’t know any creatures,” Leo says.

 _Not all creatures are bad,_ Leo’s daemon is quick to say.

The fox shifts her gaze to the bird and remains silent for a moment. _It seems we have a lot to learn from each other,_ she finally settles on.

Leo slowly gathers the fox to his arms, this time braced for the wave of comfort she emits so that it doesn’t distract him.

“We need to find your human,” Leo says, rising back on his feet. His winged companion takes off to the air, circling around them and making sure both Leo and the fox make it safely out of the cliffs.

The fox doesn’t say anything, she curls slightly against Leo, though Leo does his best not to jostle her too much.

He carries her to his home.

**…**

Cristiano wakes to find the fox still missing. He glances across the room, expecting to see her familiar shape but the room is empty and cold. He frowns, hand raising to rub against his chest. He could have sworn he felt her.

He yawns and stretches, mentally preparing himself for another tiresome day that won’t bring anything but the pain of missing his daemon.

His bare feet hit the floor and he paddles to close the door to the balcony. The sun is up, promising a scorcher, and the city slowly awakes into a new day.

After the usual set of exercise, practise and more training, Cristiano comes to a realization around midday, when he’s still full of energy instead of feeling drained and sleepy. His fox is coming back.

When she disappeared, the loss was gradually worsening from day to day but now he feels better by the minute and that could only mean she’s finally coming back to him.

He lets out a relieved breath and reaches out to her, guiding her home.

**…**

The human and his daemon are good to her and she likes their company. They aren’t Cristiano but they are the closest thing there is. She understands their bond quite well, she thinks. It’s not unlike the one she has with her human. There is the excitement of being constantly on the move, there is the thrill of freedom and there is a great deal of respect and understanding the human shows to her.

“My name is Leo,” the human tells her.

She tries it out a few times and decides she likes it. She gives him a toothy grin that he returns.

The next question is cautious. “I need to leave for a couple of days. We’re playing Atlético, a team in Madrid. Would you like to travel with us?”

She hesitates and watches as a worried crease appears on Leo’s brow.

“At least stay long enough to heal, then you can go find your human again and we can help you.”

Leo slowly reaches out and pets her fur, sparking the rightful feeling of belonging between them. Besides Cristiano, she has never let anyone touch her like this. She closes her eyes, content.

She worries it might be enough to make her stay with them for good and it’s not what she wanted, she wanted to find this for her human, not for herself. She wanted Cristiano to find his purpose, so that he can be a part of what she’s experiencing now. She wanted him to feel whole again.

 _You are restless,_ the bird tells her.

She nods.

_Is it because we’re leaving the nest?_

She blinks her eyes open, turning to look at where the bird is perched on one of the bags in the hallway. _I am used to travelling all the time. I like it. I hate feeling trapped._

 _But you like feeling anchored,_ the bird adds knowingly.

She is a little taken aback by how easily he can see right through her.

 _He meant what he said,”_ the bird goes on. _You are free. Free to go wherever you want. Free to leave._

_I think I’d rather stay for now. At least until I can get back to my human._

The bird nods, stretching out his wings. _When we get back and have some time, we’ll help you find your human again._

 _Thank you,_ she tells him.

The bird doesn’t like using names, she learns.

**…**

He is used to flying, although choosing an aeroplane leaves a lot to be desired. He is used to the noises and the stuffy air and the closed space where all the daemons are ignoring each other.

They’ve just came back home, spent a few nights there and are now on their way again so that his human and his team can defeat the other team.

He should be tired but for some reason, he can’t doze off today.

He’s more alert than he wants to be, every little sound makes him jumpy.

The fox is snoring softly, curled up on Leo’s chest. Her body raises and falls, and as he watches them, he realizes they’re breathing in tandem. He sinks his claws a little into his human’s shoulder and starts pecking at the fox’s tail until she stirs awake.

 _Let me sleep,_ she murmurs.

_Wake up. Something is odd._

The fox arches her back, stretching out her front paws. She settles down, head on her paws. _Why did you wake me?_

_Can you feel it?_

Suddenly the fox looks a lot more alert. _Yes,_ she replies excitedly. _I can feel it. It’s my human._

She is so loud and joyful that he fears she will wake Leo up.

He needn’t have worried, because there are others to do just that.

“Luis?” his human asks in a sleepy voice as the other stops in the middle of the aisle by their seats and openly stares at them.

“Wow, aren’t you a pretty little one.” The tone is awed and he can see the fox tensing up. “You know that most humans find another human first and _then_ cosy up to their daemon, right Leo? Where did you find it?”

 _Play nice,_ he warns the fox. Maybe he should have warned her but he hopes she is as accepting as she tries to present herself.

“What are you doing, Luis?” his human asks, running a hand through his beard. “And is that another Bloody Mary?”

“It’s so majestic! Who the hell loses their soul like this?”

“I don’t know. If I knew, she wouldn’t be there,” his human says and strokes the fox’s fur. She calms down instantly.

“But it bonded with you! Do you know what it means? How rare that is? You have to… Oh. How do you find the human who it belongs to?”

“I don’t know,” his human repeats and he can tell the sleepiness is gone. “Give me a sip, would you?”

The other keeps his drink in a safe distance. “No way.” 

He shifts a little, pretending to preen his wings. _The fox can already sniff him,_ he says to his human.

 _We are getting closer,_ the fox confirms. _I’ll be able to find him when we land._

“Oh. That’s… good.”

“Wow. Are they _both_ talking to you?!”

His human looks down at the fox and doesn’t say anything. The other understands anyway.

**…**

Cristiano feels a wave of relief crash over him. His knees go weak and he’s glad to have an excuse to sink down to his daemon. All he can see is his little one, finally coming back home.

“You feel a little different,” Cristiano says to his fox and she leans her head forward, accepting the scratches under her chin. “Not a bad different. You’re just… I don’t know. It feels nicer?”

The fox blinks her eyes open and Cristiano knows she’s pretty much laughing at him.

 _What you can feel are the traces of Leo, the other human,_ she tells him. _And his daemon._

“The other human?” Cristiano echoes in confusion.

“Hi, Cristiano.”

Cristiano looks up from where he’s kneeling down and freezes.

Leo makes an awkward little wave.

“Why are you here?” Cristiano asks.

_Leo brought me to you._

He can feel his fox, it’s the brightest thing in the whole world. But when he focuses, he can also feel two other sources of the same comfort that only the fox has ever been for him. One is so close that he almost can’t tell it apart from the fox, the other is a little more distant and unless Cristiano is mistaken, it is moving.

He shouldn’t feel anything like this. He tenses, fear gripping him.

“What have you done?” He asks, voice colouring with despair.

 _Oh. He can feel you now in his mind,_ his daemon says, head turned to Leo. _You must feel him, too._

All of the sudden, it dawns on him that Leo can _hear_ the fox.

“You touched–” Cristiano’s voice fails him.

She let him do that. She trusted Leo, she opened up to him and let him connect to her. He wouldn’t be able to hear her otherwise. She must have let him do that and Cristiano doesn’t know what to think about it.

“Yes. She needed my help.”

 _That is true,_ the fox says slowly, _but I was actually looking for you, hoping to find you. I found your deamon instead and got a little carried away._

This is apparently news to Leo. “You wanted to find me? Me, in particular?”

The fox nods and Cristiano suddenly remembers how pensive she grew the last time he spoke to her, how she insisted there could be more to his life than everything he already got.

Leo looks away. “It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

Cristiano feels as his fox tenses up. _You’re a pack._

“She could have found anyone else,” Leo says, avoiding Cristiano’s eyes. “As I know her, she’s–”

Cristiano isn’t sure he likes the familiarity between his fox and Leo. It throws him off and he snaps, “How can you know her? How long have you known her?”

Instead of getting angry, Leo smiles. “Your fox is vicious and determined. And also stubborn,” he lists. “But there is more to her than that. She is very sweet, if she lets you get to know her. Am I wrong?”

The fox leans against Leo’s leg.

“No. You aren’t wrong.”

“The fox let me learn a lot about her. And about myself.”

 _You can call me Snuggles,_ his daemon tells Leo and Cristiano feels his cheeks colour.

As expected, it catches Leo’s attention. “Suggles?!”

“She likes to cuddle,” Cristiano says tersely. When Leo starts laughing, he adds, “I was really young when I named her.”

Leo seems surprised. “Oh. My deamon chose his own name.”

“Speaking of which, where is your deamon?”

Leo makes a jerky notion with his head. “Up.” 

Cristiano squints at the sky, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun by his hand. “Is that a crow?”

Leo splutters. “What? No, Jesus, he’s a blackbird, can’t you tell?”

“Not from down here,” Cristiano says, though he’s pretty sure he would have no idea even had the bird been perched on his arm. As if the bird could hear him, he swoops down, landing on Leo’s shoulder. With the way he looks at Cristiano, he can tell the bird is not impressed by him.

“He’s a red-winged blackbird. His name is Trapper,” Leo explains and the bird preens, fluffing up its feathers. “But don’t call him that.”

Cristiano wants to trails his fingers over the feathers. They are beautiful, so dark they’re black, the tinge of blue only showing when the light hits just right. There are two spots where the feathers are bright red, which is a nice contrast.

The bird stops preening and presses to Leo’s cheek. Leo laughs, “He’s a little shy.”

He’s absolutely breathtaking, is what he is.

Cristiano’s heart is beating madly in his chest and his hand is shaking as he raises it to the daemon. “May I…?”

The daemon folds his wings and studies Cristiano for a moment before leaning closer to him. 

Cristiano’s fingers touch the feathers and the feeling he gets is so strong he has to close his eyes while the world reshapes itself, his focus sharpening, his sense of belonging broadening. He marvels at everything he feels.

As he strokes the feathers, he hears, _Hello. We’ve been waiting for you to do that._


End file.
